Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England supplied personal protective (a) clothing and (b) equipment to hospitals prior to the covid-19 outbreak.

Prior to the current crisis, demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) by National Health Service trusts was partly serviced by NHS Supply Chain (SCCL Ltd, a company owned by the Department) and partly through direct buying by NHS trusts themselves, usually through wholesalers. Other health and social care organisations were responsible for sourcing their own PPE, for example through wholesalers or directly from suppliers.